Is your pooch a master manipulator, when it come to food? Tips to end begging behavior

Dear Old Trainer: Fredo, my French Bulldog, and Sally, my Whippet mix, are perfect except for one thing. They beg the entire time I eat my dinner. I feed them first, but when I sit down to eat they stare and whine this pitiful whine. My dad says put them in the garage. Is that what you recommend?

Ann, Ripon, California

Old Trainer: No. That’s not training, that’s a way to avoid training.

Teaching dogs not to beg is easy to explain, but hard to do. Dogs are the most accomplished beggars on the planet. They fake looking sad, use our love for them against us, and feel no guilt about manipulating us to get what they want.

You tell them, “No more treats and I mean it.” They think, “Keep begging, she’ll cave like she always does.”

They won’t stop begging on their own, so it’s up to you to make them stop. Here’s how you do it:

After they eat, give each a treat, then stand straight and tall, look them in the eye, hold both hands side by side, palms facing them, then move them two feet apart, and say, “That’s all.”

The hand signal is the same as that of a blackjack dealer when relieved. If you don’t play blackjack, it’s what Tom Cruise does at least three times every movie to show he is really sincere.

It only works if you make up your mind you will never give in. Dogs know in an instant if you’re weak.

Once you do it, turn and walk away. Never relent. Never. Do it every day. If they try to beg, roll up a newspaper, slap your leg to make noise, give the hand signal, and repeat the command. If they persist, order them to get on their beds. In a few days they will realize the signal means the fun is over and there is no appeal.

But if you ever relent, even one time, they will never pay attention to the command again.

Dear Old Trainer: The trainer at obedience class said it’s important to make Raz, my 8-month old mixed breed, walk behind me to prove I’m the leader. How do you train a dog to walk behind you?

Darren, Indian Village, Colorado

Old Trainer: I don’t. I want my dogs out front so I can keep track of them and enjoy watching them have fun.

Making your dog walk behind you has nothing to do with leadership. It’s another example of projecting human psychology onto an animal who is motivated solely by canine psychology.

Think about it logically for a moment. When wolves hunt in the wild the leader cannot possibly be in front of every wolf because they are spread out, yet they all accept him as the leader. Therefore, whether the lead wolf is in front or not has nothing to do with being leader of the pack.

The fact he orders the pack to be where he wants them and enforces his orders is what makes him the leader.

Let Raz walk in front of you. He’ll think he’s protecting you and dogs love to protect their human. Order him back to you now and then. The fact you give the orders and control the pace is what constitutes leadership, not where Raz walks.

This story was originally published March 14, 2020 at 7:00 AM.